Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/701

 TEXAS 671 da, Espiritu Santo, Aransas, and Corpus Christ! bays, and the Laguna del Madre. Galveston bay is the largest, and has the best entrance, its inlet having 13 ft. of water, while in good anchorage just outside there is 24 ft. ; it ex- tends inland from the gulf of Mexico 35 m. Matagorda bay, nearly 60 m. long by 6 to 10 m. wide, and Laguna del Madre, nearly 100 m. long by 3 to 6 m. wide, are properly sounds, and run parallel with the shore. The en- trance of Matagorda bay, which is rapidly filling up, has only 7 ft. of water; and San Luis inlet, the entrance to West bay, a sound connecting with Galveston bay, has but 6 ft. Aransas bay is 25 m. long from N. E. to S. W. and about 10 m. wide, and Copano bay, a sound opening into it, is 20 m. long by 3 m. wide; Corpus Christi bay is 20 m. long by 15 m. wide, and Espiritu Santo 20 by 10 m. Tbe entrance to all these is much ob- structed by the bars at the inlets. E. of the 100th meridian the state is generally well wa- tered. The Rio Grande forms the boundary with Mexico, and is navigable for 400 or 500 m. The Rio Pecos, its principal tributary, entering from New Mexico, flows S. E. through the W. extremity of the state. The most im- portant rivers, proceeding N. E. along the coast from the mouth of the Rio Grande, are : the Nueces, emptying into Corpus Christi bay ; the San Antonio and Guadalupe, into Espiritu Santo bay; the Lavaca, into Lavaca bay and thence into Matagorda bay ; the Colorado, into Matagorda bay; the Brazos, into the gulf of Mexico; the San Jacinto and Trinity, into Galveston bay; and the Neches and Sabine, into Sabine lake, which discharges into the gulf of Mexico through Sabine pass. The Sa- bine rises in the N. E. part of Texas, flows S. E. to the Louisiana border (about lat. 32), and thence S., separating the two states. It is navigable in some portions by small craft. The Neches and its chief tributary, the Angelina, are navigable for about 200 m. from Sabine lake. The Trinity rises in the N". part of the state near the Red river, and flows S. S. E. ; it is navigable for about 250 m. The Brazos, Colorado, Guadalupe, San Antonio, and Nueces rivers are during most of the year navigable but a short distance, though susceptible of im- provement. The chief tributary of the Nue- ces is the Rio Frio. The Colorado and Bra- zos rise on the E. edge of the Llano Esta- cado, and flow S. E. across the state. The chief tributaries of the former are the Con- cho, San Saba, and Llano from the west; of the latter, the Little river from the west and the Navasota from the east. The N. E. cor- ner of the state is watered by the Sulphur fork of Red river, which joins the main stream in Arkansas. A little S. of this are Big and Little Cypress bayous, which discharge through lakes into Red river in Louisiana. Red river rises by several forks in the N. W. part of the state, flows E., and after crossing the 100th meridian separates Texas from Indian terri- 783 VOL. xv. 43 tory and Arkansas, and enters the latter state. It is navigable for nearly its whole course on the boundary, though obstructed somewhat by shifting sands for a part of the distance. Its largest Texan tributary is the Big Wichita, entering near Ion. 98. The N. extremity of the state is crossed by Canadian river, running E. from New Mexico into Indian territory. The principal geological formations are the alluvial, tertiary, cretaceous, and carboniferous. The alluvial extends along the gulf coast ; back of this is the tertiary, having its widest expan- sion in the east, where it reaches Red river in Lamar co. ; N. W. of the tertiary is the creta- ceous, extending W. on Red river to Cooke co. and S. to San Antonio, and probably forming the table lands and plains of the west and southwest. The carboniferous formation ex- tends through the counties W. of Cooke to the Staked Plain, stretching S. from Red river to and beyond the upper Colorado. Coal beds have been discovered here, but scarcely any- thing has been done to test the quality or quantity of the mineral. Coal has also been found at various points in the tertiary, particu- larly in Bastrop co., W. of the Colorado; in Milam, Robertson, Leon, and Limestone cos., near the Brazos and Trinity ; and in Anderson and Rusk cos., in eastern Texas. The tertiary coal has to some extent been proved valuable for fuel. Iron ores are abundant in the ter- tiary in eastern and central Texas; they also occur in the N. W. part of Grayson co., on Red river, and in the upper Cross Timbers ; in Burnet and Llano cos., N. W. of Austin ; and also, it is said, in Stephens co., further N. They were worked during the civil war in Cherokee and Nacogdoches cos., in eastern Texas, and in Bowie and other counties in the K E. corner of the state. Copper ore occurs in the carboniferous formation, particularly in the K part. Lead has been found in connec- tion with silver in western Texas ; steatite or soapstone in Llano co. ; and marble of various colors and fair quality in Burnet, Llano, and San Saba cos. In the N. W. part of the state, about the head waters of Red river, is an ex- tensive gypsum region. There are salt wells in Van Zandt co., in the northeast, in Young and Wise cos., in the northwest, and in Lam- pasas and Llano cos., on the Colorado. Salt beds are reported in the gypsum region and on the Rio Pecos. Between Corpus Christi and Brownsville are many shallow lagoons or arms of the gulf, which during the prevalence of winds blowing inland are filled with salt water. This is evaporated, depositing the salt, which is collected upon the subsidence of the water. Chalybeate springs are common in the iron districts of the tertiary. At Lampasas in the county of the same name are fine sulphur springs, which also exist in Grimes, Rusk, and Hopkins cos., in the E. part of the state. The climate is remarkably salubrious, and though warm enough for the production of most of the semi-tropical and some of the tropical